Daily Lessons for Teaching Postmortem

Lesson 1 (from Chapter 1)

Objective

In chapter one the main character, Scarpetta, gives her opinion on what she believes to be true about the killer that they are looking for. The objective of this lesson is to look at the importance of a character's opinion.

Lesson

1) Discussion: Ask the students to define opinion. What is the difference between a personal and professional opinion? Is Scarpetta's opinion personal or professional? Explain your answer.

2) Classwork: Pick a subject for the class to focus on. Have the students give their own opinions. Have the students write out a list of things that their opinions are based on, such as religion, experience, education, life style and others.

3) Homework: Have the students write an essay explaining what the author gives by including Scarpetta's opinions in the book. How would the story have been different without her opinions?